Queerbaiting

The cast and crew of Sherlock have consistently denied that the relationship between the titular detective and his flatmate is intended to be seen as romantic. Critics have called the depiction queerbaiting.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

Queerbaiting is a marketing technique for fiction and entertainment in which creators hint at, but do not depict, same-sex romance or other LGBTQ+ representation.^[5] The purpose of this method is to attract ("bait") a queer or straight ally audience with the suggestion or possibility of relationships or characters that appeal to them,^[6] while not alienating homophobic members of the audience or censors by actually portraying queer relationships.^[6]

Queerbaiting has been observed in popular culture and fiction such as films, television series, books, music, ads, various forms of media, but also in celebrities who convey an ambiguous sexual identity through their works and statements.^[7] The term arose in and has been popularized through discussions in Internet fandom^[8] since the early 2010s.^[9] It comes from a larger history of LGBTQ+ discourse in media representation dating back to the 1970s from subtle marketing to LGBTQ+ people through commercials and books.^[10]

Assessments

Queer audience concerns

Queer fans have reacted with concern and anger to an identity they consider defining being used as a mere marketing ploy, a plaything for creatives, a mark of "edginess", or a commodity.^[9]

Fans have derided, for instance, queer characters being used as plot devices rather than as characters for their own sake. Glee, for example, a series with many queer series regulars, was criticized by fans for presenting "superficial stereotypes of queerness for dramatic effect".^[11]

Queer fans consider queerbaiting as "a way to throw us a bone when we normally wouldn't have anything, to acknowledge that we're there in the audience when the powers that be would prefer to ignore us".^[12] Emmet Scout wrote that "queerbaiting works on its audience because it offers the suggestion that queer people do have a vital place in these stories, that they might even be the defining figures, the heroes. The suggestion—but not the reality."^[13] Rose Bridges summarized the practice's effect on queer fans as receiving "just enough [representation] to keep us interested, but not enough to satisfy us and make us truly represented."^[12]

Critiques

Critics of those who engage in queerbaiting discourse point to its similarity, and perhaps confusion by audiences, with subtext.^[14] Subtext became popular in media, especially in film, during the 1930s due to the Hays Code which limited what can be shown on screen. The use of subtext has been a literary ploy to tell a variety of stories since. However, those who engage with queerbaiting discourse argue that LGBT representation no longer needs to be in the shadows of media.^[14] Instead of adding artistic value, queer fans view this tactic as perpetuating LGBT marginalization.

Societal shifts

According to media scholars^[who?], the perceived increase in queerbaiting reflects a shift towards a more positive perception of queer relationships in modern societies—and therefore, in a sense, societal progress.^[9] However, the same societal shift has also increased expectations by queer fans as to the quality and authenticity of queer representation—they demand not just any representation at all, but rather "respectful and meaningful depictions" of their relationships.^[9] That is why, according to media researcher Eve Ng, the ambiguous sexuality projected by twentieth-century entertainers such as David Bowie, Elton John and Madonna was not scrutinized to the same degree as that of their successors.^[9]

Various businesses and corporations, such as Starbucks, Ben & Jerry's, and Tylenol have showcased queer people and queer families in advertisements, helping to normalize and increase awareness surrounding the queer community.^[15]

Queerbaiting has brought the spending power of the queer community to light, and businesses make economic decisions that promote and support the queer community and its representation that ultimately entices the pink dollar. Terms associated with the queer community, like pink money, have shown the importance of queer people within an economy and a society.^[15]

In May 2020, reviewer Sophie Perry, writing for a lesbian lifestyle magazine, Curve, noted how queerbaiting has long endured in LGBT representation, noting how She-Ra and Harley Quinn both had same-sex kisses, happening within stories that could have turned out to be "typical queerbaiting" but did not.^[16] Perry added that the "queer conclusion" of the show is thanks to ND Stevenson, describing it as very different from the conclusion of The Legend of Korra, which confirmed Korra and Asami's relationship but left it "purposefully ambiguous" so it could air on a children's network. She concluded by calling She-Ra and the Princesses of Power culturally significant and added that as more creative queer people come to the fore, inevitably queerbaiting will "become a thing of the past".

In March 2021, a writer for Vanity Fair, Joanna Robinson asked when "queer coding" veers into the territory of "queer baiting", with Dana Terrace saying it happens a "lot in modern anime", and Robinson saying this is also seen in shows like the end of Supernatural or the "hubbub around Finn and Poe in The Rise of Skywalker".^[17]

Examples

Companies and brands

Disney has been accused of queerbaiting on several occasions, with Kodi Maier of the University of Hull arguing that "Disney is willing to create animated films and television shows that suggest queer content, but only so long as it doesn’t damage its conservative image."^[18]^[19] The directors of Avengers: Endgame had spoken in interviews about believing it was "a perfect time" to include queer representation in the franchise, however, it turned out to be a single line said by an unnamed secondary character in the film.^[20] The Rise of Skywalker faced similar criticism after director J.J. Abrams stated in the promotional press tour for the film that he had included queer representation in the film, but it turned out to be a single shot of a kiss in the background of one scene.^[21] A number of other Disney films, including the 2017 Beauty and the Beast film and Cruella were promoted as having queer characters (in some cases promoted as having Disney's first openly queer character), yet in each case the portrayal of queerness on screen was either just hinted at or a brief background that could easily be missed.^[22]^[23]

Fiction

The following characters, or relationships between characters of the same sex, have also been interpreted as examples of queerbaiting by at least some reliable media sources. This interpretation is not necessarily shared by all critics or fans.

Television

2 Broke Girls: Max Black and Caroline Channing.^[24]
Glee: Rachel Berry and Quinn Fabray.^{[citation needed]}
Riverdale: Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge,^[25] and Archie Andrews and Joaquin DeSantos.^[26]
Rizzoli & Isles: Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles.^[27]
Sherlock: Sherlock Holmes and John Watson. Cast and crew of Sherlock have consistently denied that the relationship is intended to be seen as romantic,^[1]^[2] to the dismay of many fans.^[3]^[4]
Supergirl: Kara Danvers and Lena Luthor who constantly paralleled others canon couples like Barry & Allen (Westallen) in The Flash, Clark & Lois (Clois), Oliver & Felicity (Olicity) in Arrow and others canon couples in the show.^[28]^[29]
Stranger Things: Will Byers^[30]^[31] and Mike Wheeler^[32]
Teen Wolf: Derek Hale and Stiles Stilinski.^[33]^[34]^[35]
Voltron: Legendary Defender: Shiro and Adam.^[36]
Wednesday: Wednesday and Enid^[37] both have male love interests in the first season while Netflix hosted a promotional event called "Wednesgay" and hid replies on tweets calling Wednesday gay.
House of the Dragon: Rhaenyra and Alicent^[38]^[39]
House of the Dragon: Rhaenyra and Mysaria^[40]

Some series did portray a same-sex relationship after being criticized for queerbaiting:

Killing Eve: The series was criticized for queerbaiting with the relationship of the main characters Eve and Villanelle in seasons 1 and 2.^[41]^[42]^[43] After they kissed in season 3,^[44] critics reassessed the series's approach to their relationship.^[45]
Supernatural: The relationship between Castiel and Dean Winchester was seen as queerbaiting by fans.^[46] In the fifteenth season (2020), Castiel confessed his love to Winchester immediately before dying (he came back later in the finale off-screen), prompting criticism that the show was playing into the "bury your gays" trope.^[47]^[48]

Film

Black Panther: Okoye and Ayo.^[49]
Captain America: Civil War: Bucky Barnes and Steve Rogers.^[50]
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald: Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald.^[51]
Luca: Luca and Alberto.^[52]
Pitch Perfect: Beca and Chloe.^[53]^[54]
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: Finn and Poe.^[55]^[56]
The Yin-Yang Master: Dream of Eternity: Qing Ming and Bo Ya.^[57]
Thor: Ragnarok: Valkyrie.^[58]
Thor: Love and Thunder: Valkyrie, Korg.^[59]^[60]

Anime

Izetta: The Last Witch: Izetta and Princess Finé.^[61]
Sound! Euphonium: Kumiko Ōmae and Reina Kōsaka.^[62]
Naruto: Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki.

Social media

On April Fool's Day 2020, content creators, who were mostly straight men, started to post short videos and challenges on social media, mostly TikTok and Instagram, lip-syncing to will.i.am's "Boys & Girls" and pretending to come out as bisexual.^[63] In 2021, Alpha House influencers were accused of queerbaiting, while other straight web personalities received the same accusations.^[64] Some influencers came out after being accused of queerbaiting.^[65] Noah Beck was also accused of queerbaiting while he kept confirming his identity as straight.^[66]

Many "challenges" or "trends" on TikTok or Instagram were accused of queerbaiting. This includes kissing others of the same gender, posting false coming out narratives, or falsely claiming to be in a same-sex relationship.^[63]^[67] Many celebrities, including Billie Eilish and Normani,^[68]^[69] were accused of queerbaiting for their posts on Instagram.

Although this has been criticised, others have argued that the popularity of this trend is an example of the growing acceptance of LGBT people and (among males) a homosocial embrace of a "softer" form of masculinity.^[70]

References

^ ^a ^b Romano, Aja (26 April 2013). ""Sherlock" fans lash out over sunken JohnLock ship". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on 16 June 2013. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
^ ^a ^b Steven Moffat talk about JohnLock and Season 3 & 4 (YouTube video). 13 May 2013. Archived from the original on 18 November 2021. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
^ ^a ^b Bridges, Rose (26 June 2013). "How Do We Solve A Problem Like "Queerbaiting"?: On TV's Not-So-Subtle Gay Subtext". Autostraddle. Archived from the original on 22 October 2014. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
^ ^a ^b Scout, Emmett (19 June 2013). "Please Do Not Bait the Queers". The Next. University of Washington. Archived from the original on 30 December 2014. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
^ Harrad, Kate (2018-10-05). Claiming the B in LGBT: Illuminating the Bisexual Narrative. Thorntree Press LLC. ISBN 9781944934613. Archived from the original on 2023-11-25. Retrieved 2021-02-13.
^ ^a ^b Fathallah, Judith (2014-07-17). "Moriarty's Ghost". Television & New Media. 16 (5): 490–500. doi:10.1177/1527476414543528. S2CID 145508280.
^ Ritschel, Chelsea (9 April 2019). "What is queer-baiting and why do celebrities do it?". The Independent. Archived from the original on 22 May 2022. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
^ Nordin, Emma (1 January 2015). From Queer Reading to Queerbaiting: The battle over the polysemic text and the power of hermeneutics (Master's thesis). Stockholm University. Archived from the original on 3 December 2017. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Honderich, Holly (8 April 2019). "Queerbaiting - exploitation or a sign of progress?". BBC. Archived from the original on 15 May 2022. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
^ Waggoner, Erin B. (2018-11-10). "Bury Your Gays and Social Media Fan Response: Television, LGBTQ Representation, and Communitarian Ethics". Journal of Homosexuality. 65 (13): 1877–1891. doi:10.1080/00918369.2017.1391015. ISSN 0091-8369. PMID 29023204. S2CID 26208120.
^ Panigrahi, Kerishma (17 December 2012). "Queerbaiting in Online Communities: Television, Fandom, and the Politics of Representation" (PDF). Wordpress. City University of New York – Hunter College. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 December 2014. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
^ ^a ^b Bridges, Rose (26 June 2013). "How Do We Solve A Problem Like 'Queerbaiting'?". AutoStraddle. Archived from the original on 22 October 2014. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
^ Scout, Emmett. "Please Do Not Bait the Queers". The Next. University of Washington. Archived from the original on 9 March 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
^ ^a ^b Queerbaiting and Fandom: Teasing Fans through Homoerotic Possibilities. University of Iowa Press. 2019. doi:10.2307/j.ctvrs8xtj.4. ISBN 978-1-60938-671-9. JSTOR j.ctvrs8xtj. S2CID 241889076. Archived from the original on 2022-05-11. Retrieved 2022-03-11.
^ ^a ^b Abidin, Crystal (2019-09-03). "Yes Homo: Gay influencers, homonormativity, and queerbaiting on YouTube". Continuum. 33 (5): 614–629. doi:10.1080/10304312.2019.1644806. ISSN 1030-4312. S2CID 204369535.
^ Perry, Sophia (May 22, 2020). "Is Queerbaiting Finally Being Put To Bed?". Curve. Archived from the original on May 24, 2020. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
^ Robinson, Joanna (March 5, 2021). "Raya and the Last Dragon's Kelly Marie Tran Thinks Her Disney Princess Is Gay". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on March 7, 2021. Retrieved March 14, 2021.
^ "Luca, Disney and queerbaiting in animation". 14 July 2021. Archived from the original on 26 August 2024. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
^ "Disney back-patting for queer-baiting content".
^ "Avengers: Endgame's Gay Representation is Bullshit". 29 April 2019. Archived from the original on 2 September 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
^ "Is Disney continuing to queerbait fans with the Rise of Skywalker press tour?". 8 December 2019. Archived from the original on 9 December 2019. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
^ Tadeo, Jericho (June 5, 2021). "Cruella Repeats Disney's Queerbaiting Problem". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on June 22, 2021. Retrieved June 22, 2021.
^ "Are 'Beauty and the Beast' and 'Power Rangers' queerbaiting LGBT fans?". USA Today. Retrieved 2020-04-02.
^ "2 Broke Girls Keeps Everyone Guessing". June 30, 2013. Retrieved April 30, 2013.
^ McGrath, Mary Kate. "'Riverdale', Queer-Baiting, & How One Tweet Exposed The Fan Conversation We Need To Pay Attention To". Bustle. Archived from the original on 15 November 2018. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
^ Reilly, Kaitlin. "Riverdale Accused Of Queerbaiting Over That Joaquin/Archie Kiss". Refinery29. Archived from the original on 15 November 2018. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
^ "Rizzoli & Isles". 1 February 2016.
^ Cataldo, Amanda (2022-07-13). "From 'Stranger Things' to 'Sherlock': 10 TV Shows That Queerbaited Their Fans". Collider. Retrieved 2024-09-13.
^ Bromwich, Jonah Engel (December 4, 2017). "Who Do You Ship? What Tumblr Tells Us About Fan Culture". The New York Times.
^ "Stranger Things slammed by LGBTQ+ fans for "queerbaiting" Will's sexuality". Dexerto. Archived from the original on 2022-07-01. Retrieved 2022-07-01.
^ "Stranger Things viewers criticise show for 'never really addressing' Will's sexuality". The Independent. 2022-06-01. Retrieved 2022-07-01.
^ "Why are Stranger Things Fans Upset with Mike for How He Treated Will?". news18. 2022-07-02. Archived from the original on 2022-07-02. Retrieved 2022-07-02.
^ "Op-ed: The Trouble With 'Teen Wolf'". advocate.com. 2014-09-17. Archived from the original on 2020-10-01. Retrieved 2020-05-01.
^ Mallikarjuna, Krutika (29 September 2017). "How 'Teen Wolf' Failed Its Bisexual Fans". Teen Vogue. Archived from the original on 2018-06-17. Retrieved 2020-05-01.
^ ""Here We Go Again": The Endless Cycle of Queerbaiting in Pop Culture". Georgia Voice - Gay & LGBT Atlanta News. 2019-03-14. Archived from the original on 2024-08-26. Retrieved 2020-05-01.
^ Haasch, Palmer (16 August 2018). "Voltron creator addresses fans over season 7's queerbaiting controversy". Polygon. Archived from the original on 15 June 2019. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
^ Iftikhar, Asyia (2022-11-24). "Netflix's Wednesday series sparks debate with LGBTQ+ viewers". PinkNews. Archived from the original on 2022-11-27. Retrieved 2022-11-27.
^ Farren, Lara (25 September 2022). "'House of the Dragon' Star Emily Carey Addresses 'Queerbaiting' Claims". Indiewire. Archived from the original on 14 September 2024. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
^ Farren, Lara (23 July 2024). "House of the Dragon's queer twist changes how we view Rhaenyra and Alicent's rivalry". Digitalspy. Archived from the original on 2024-07-23. Retrieved 2024-07-23.
^ Farren, Lara (14 September 2024). "'That epic, queer House of the Dragon kiss wasn't scripted". out.com. Archived from the original on 23 July 2024. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
^ Young, Sarah (6 June 2019). "Killing Eve accused of queerbaiting by viewers". The Independent. Archived from the original on 16 June 2019. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
^ Gutowitz, Jill (25 June 2019). "'Killing Eve', 'Dead to Me', and The Confusing State of 'Queerbaiting' on TV". Cosmopolitan. Archived from the original on 29 June 2019. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
^ Abraham, Amelia (29 June 2019). "Why culture's 'queerbaiting' leaves me cold". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
^ "Killing Eve Finally Ends Eve & Villanelle's Queerbaiting With an Epic Kiss". CBR. 30 April 2020. Archived from the original on 25 May 2020. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
^ Bandyopadhyay, Alakananda. "Pride Month 2020: How Sandra Oh's Eve Polastri redeemed 'Killing Eve' from falling prey to queerbaiting". meaww.com. Archived from the original on 7 June 2020. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
^ Cruz, Eliel (17 July 2014). "Fans Take Supernatural to Task for 'Queer Baiting'". Archived from the original on 28 April 2016. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
^ Radulovic, Petrana (2020-11-06). "Supernatural actually made Destiel canon(ish)". Polygon. Archived from the original on 2020-11-07. Retrieved 2020-11-07.
^ "Destiel (Sort Of) Became Canon And "Supernatural" Fans Are Shaking". BuzzFeed News. 6 November 2020. Archived from the original on 2021-08-29. Retrieved 2021-08-30.
^ "Black Panther Screenwriter Addresses Rumors of Cut Gay Romance". CBR. 2018-02-12. Archived from the original on 2020-11-09. Retrieved 2020-04-02.
^ "Of Marvel and Queerbaiting". 2018-11-20. Archived from the original on 2019-06-25. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
^ "Fantastic Beasts 2 is Queerbaiting That Puts Dumbledore Back in the Closet". Den of Geek. 2018-11-20. Retrieved 2020-04-02.
^ Monson, Leigh (June 18, 2021). "'Luca' continues Disney's legacy of blatant queerbaiting". whattowatch.com. Archived from the original on June 19, 2021. Retrieved June 22, 2021.
^ Donald, Ella (17 January 2018). "Pitch Perfect Has a Queerbaiting Problem". them. Archived from the original on 2020-10-25. Retrieved 2020-05-01.
^ Obropta, Clement Tyler (2019-06-27). "PITCH PERFECT 3 A Ca-Queerbaits Its Audience". Film Inquiry. Archived from the original on 2020-07-26. Retrieved 2020-05-01.
^ Yee, Lawrence (6 December 2019). "Is JJ Abrams' LGBTQ Tease for 'The Rise of Skywalker' Just More Queerbaiting? (Commentary)". The Wrap. Archived from the original on 9 December 2019. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
^ Turner, Molly Catherine (8 December 2019). "Is Disney continuing to queerbait fans with The Rise of Skywalker press tour?". Culturess. Archived from the original on 9 December 2019. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
^ Collins, Hannah (February 15, 2021). "Netflix's The Yin-Yang Master Is a Fantasy Epic Tarnished by Queerbaiting". CBR. Archived from the original on April 21, 2021. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
^ Zane, Zachary. "Analysis | 'Thor's' Valkyrie is Marvel's first LGBT character. But you wouldn't know it from the film". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2019-12-21. Retrieved 2020-04-02.
^ Rivera, Joshua (2022-07-18). "Thor: Love and Thunder reminds queer fans exactly what Disney thinks they're worth". Polygon. Archived from the original on 2023-09-27. Retrieved 2023-09-27.
^ King, Jade (8 July 2022). "We Need To Stop Letting Ourselves Be Queerbaited By The MCU". The Gamer. Archived from the original on 9 July 2022. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
^ Chapman, Jacob (November 2, 2016). "What's So Gay About Yuri!!! on Ice?". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on January 8, 2017. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
^ Carlos Saloz, Juan (November 28, 2018). "Los Animes Que Destaparon el Tabú de la Homosexualidad en España" [The Animes That Uncovered the Taboo Of Homosexuality in Spain]. Fotogramas (in Spanish). Archived from the original on April 21, 2021. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
^ ^a ^b "Queerbaiting on TikTok invalidates LGBTQ+ stories". Arts + Culture. April 11, 2020. Archived from the original on October 28, 2021. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
^ Press-Reynolds, Kieran. "A group of thirst trap TikTok guys is being accused of having different 'straight' and 'queer' accounts to appeal to multiple audiences". Insider. Archived from the original on 2024-08-26. Retrieved 2022-01-21.
^ Cramer, Jude (16 August 2021). "TikTok Star Theo Carow Comes Out as Bisexual After Queerbaiting Accusations". INTO. Archived from the original on 26 August 2024. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
^ "Here's Why People Are Accusing TikTok Star Noah Beck of Queer-Baiting". www.pride.com. March 8, 2021. Archived from the original on August 26, 2024. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
^ "'Best friends kissing' TikTok trend prompts passionate debate about queerbaiting". May 11, 2021. Archived from the original on January 21, 2022. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
^ "Billie Eilish accused of 'queer baiting' with Instagram post". June 11, 2021. Archived from the original on January 21, 2022. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
^ II, Moises Mendez (July 23, 2021). "Why Queerbaiting Matters More Than Ever". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on April 3, 2022. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
^ Hawgood, Alex (24 October 2020). "Everyone Is Gay on TikTok". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 26 August 2024. Retrieved 21 January 2022.